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We are working on a Bitcoin project for which we need to have the bitcoin node. The point is that we do not need to have the entire bitcoin node downloaded but only from the moment we start the project and therefore we opt for pruned node. The current setting is pruned = 1, because we don't need to prune the old blocks every X size of blocks. So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.

We have a wrong idea about "pruned node" or we have something wrong or partially configured?

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So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.

Pruning does not mean not downloading; it means deleting them after they've been downloaded and verified.

Bitcoin Core always downloads and validates the entire history (for now).

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  • Thank you for response. So we have to have enough storage so that the entire blockchain can be downloaded and verified? If so, with pruned = 1 after verification of full node, from which block will the storage begin to save? Since the last of the concrete moment?
    – SamYan
    Aug 29 at 13:32
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    No, the (older, verified) blocks will be deleted after a while, while newer ones are still being downloaded. You only need a few GB storage for a pruned node.
    – Pieter Wuille
    Aug 29 at 13:42
  • I still do not understand. Thank you for being able to enlighten me again. We need to synchronize the blockchain as of October 1, which is when we will start the project. The blocks prior to that date are not necessary since the wallets that we will use will be newly created from that date. So is it correct that we have prune = 1? When we run the node and the blockchain is verified, would only blocks from October 1st be saved on the hard drive?
    – SamYan
    Aug 29 at 14:30
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    You can't avoid downloading them all (with Bitcoin Core today at least), regardless of whether you prune or not. With prune=0 you keep everything. With prune=N you will keep the last N megabytes of blocks. With prune=1 you keep everything, but can manually ask Bitcoin Core to delete stuff using the pruneblockchain RPC.
    – Pieter Wuille
    Aug 29 at 15:20
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    Yes, exactly. If you have prune=1 configured, Bitcoin Core won't delete any blocks on its own, but lets you manually delete blocks up to a certain height by calling that RPC. You can even call it while it's still synchronizing. However, even in that case you will need to download and verify all old historical blocks; it just lets you delete them after verification.
    – Pieter Wuille
    Aug 29 at 15:27

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